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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Amaranth Leaves Stir/Fry(Notey Posto Labra)

Green leafy vegetables play an important role in our overall diet. Amaranth or Amaranthus is one of them. It has many sub-species of red, green, pinkish, deep brown etc…But popularly it’s the green small leaves that are eaten fondly in northern part and Andhra Pradesh as ThotaKura in India. In eastern UP, India; it is known as Chaulai in local/regional language.Amaranthus leaves are packed with goodness of nutritional component, but other than the leaves, it’s the seeds /grains that are also eaten.More info about Amaranth, Visit Here

This is a very Traditional way of preparing Notey or Amaranthus leaves in Bengal an eastern region in India with poppy seeds paste. Bengalis love to eat it with warm cooked rice. Here is how we prepare Notey Posto Labra.

In a grinder add the Poppy seeds, little bit of water and little bit of butter, to make a smooth paste. You may add liitle bit of roasted Peanuts with it also to make it even creamier.

Prepare the stir/Fry

Clean the green leaves of Amaranth, discard torn or wilted leaves. Clean the chopped leaves thoroughly in water 2-3 times to get rid of mud /sand if any.Heat up kadhai or any heavy bottom Pan/Wok ,add mustard oil , add the panch phoron mix , let it splutter.Now add diced, cubed potatoes .Fry it for 1-2 mints at high.Add turmeric powder, red pepper powder, salt, sugar.Add the cleaned leaves of green Amaranth.Cook at high for 2-3 mints, lower the flames and cover the kadhai/Pan.Cook the leaves till soft and deep-green in color. Now add the pre –prepared poppy seed paste. stir/fry and cover, cook another 4-5 mints.Mash it well to evenly consistency to have the Labra Texture,or you can leave it that way.Take out in a bowl and have it with rice or roti.

Joyeeta,thats a good question,You can easily grind ,posto in mixer..in fact I do it in mixer itself...water shud be added slowly after rotating the grinder for few mintues,then add more water ...I have found that if I add some cshews or peanuts , the result is even more delicious.....Use the small one to grind posto ...and yes there is no subs for hard work ,I mean using sheel nora ...

I prepare amaranth leaves without anything by jeera so it is more of a salad. These look good. Posto is very popular in Bengali Cuisine, isn't it? Could you post on how to prepare an authentic panch phoran masala at home? I haven't come across it here and I do not want to prepare too much without tasting it. Thanks!